Welcome to my blog. This post is about Tongue-tie and how it affects your baby.
As a first time mom, there are lots of things you probably haven't heard of before. But the fact that you have not heard of them does not mean they don't exist. It is certainly painful to see your child grow with a deformity that could have so easily been corrected. When I had my first baby, I didn't know about tongue-tie and only had it removed when he was over three months old! You can imagine the pain. It is advised that after giving birth, the doctor or nurse on duty should check your baby for tongue-tie to enable them remove it when the child is still tender. When it is done at this time, it barely causes pain or discomfort to your baby.
Tongue-tie is when the tissue under your baby's tongue (frenulum), which attaches her tongue to the floor of her mouth, is too short. This is known as ankyloglossia. When your baby has tongue-tie, it can prevent your baby from moving her tongue without obstruction. It can also make you nipples sore and cracked which is quite painful. At times, it can cause problems with breastfeeding where your baby can't suck well, meaning she may have problems to put on weight. It is not certain if babies inherit tongue-tie or not, but it may run in some families.
When I had my first baby, I didn't know about tongue-tie and only had it removed when he was over three months old! You can imagine the pain. It is advised that after giving birth, the doctor or nurse on duty should check your baby for tongue-tie to enable them remove it when the child is still tender. When it is done at this time, it barely causes pain or discomfort to your baby.
Tongue-tie comes in two forms. It has the 'little' tongue-tie, where the baby's tongue is bound only by a thin strip of tissue, called a mucous membrane, then the more serious one where the baby's tongue is entirely fused to the floor of the mouth.
To treat or remove tongue-tie, you take your baby to a doctor experienced in that field to gently use his surgical tools to remove it. Note that this is not a major surgery. This operation is called frenulotomy. Like I have stated before, it is good to do it when the baby is still very young, say like few weeks old. The earlier the better. Most times, there is no bleeding but if it occurs it's always little and feeding your baby immediately helps him/her feel better.
See you when I write again.
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